Course Substitution

When it is determined to be in the best interest of the student’s declared educational objective, appropriate courses may be substituted for other courses for graduation purposes. Necessary course substitutions within the major field (courses reflecting the prefix of the student’s major curriculum) require the approval of the appropriate Dean and Vice President of Student Learning.

Course substitutions from curricula outside the student’s major area, which have been made for the purpose of addressing the general education or related course requirements, must be approved by the appropriate Dean and Vice President of Instruction. The Dean must notify the Registrar’s Office in writing of all applicable course substitutions on an individual student basis.

Procedures for approving course substitutes are as follows:

1. The course(s) used as a substitute must have credit hours that are at least equal to the number of credit hours in the original course.
2. The substitute course(s) must have relevance to the curriculum and to the course for which the substitution is made, unless the course is being used as an elective.
3. Required core course(s) as outlined in the North Carolina Community College System curriculum standards may not be substituted without review and approval of the Vice President of Instruction.
4. Requests to substitute courses that were completed at institutions other than a North Carolina Community College must be accompanied by a full course description and accreditation status at the time the course was completed from the institution from which the course is being transferred. If necessary, the Department Head or program director may request a course syllabus if the course description is not detailed enough. It is the responsibility of the student to provide all requested documentation.
5. The Registrar’s Office requires documentation in order to process the substitution in the student information system.
6. The Course Substitution form must be used to submit the request and documentation. The form begins with the requestor followed by Dean approval and Vice President of Instruction approval.
7. Approval or denial will be noted in the student early alert system including the completed course substitution form. The Registrar’s Office will also include a cop of the approval or denial in Etrieve.

Adopted: June 13, 2022

Revised: May 20, 2025